August 2022

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Is the bold better than past tense?

Andrew Van Wagner 8/14/222:52 PM

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I have an instinct to go with the bold instead of "responded": https://join.substack.com/p/domination The book documents how “business leaders waged a strategic, ideological campaign at the workplace and within the community to recapture the hegemonic authority they thought the New Deal and the new unionism had so catastrophically disrupted”—this campaign was responding to a situation where attitudes were so anti-business that “one postwar survey” showed that “nearly half of all workers...Read More...

Gustavo, Co-Moderator 8/15/226:56 PM

Hi, Andrew, I think you want to use the past progressive to provide some kind of background for the preceding verb phrase ( waged a campaign... ), while the past simple could indeed be interpreted as referring to a subsequent situation. Personally, I would prefer "this campaign was in response to ..." because I don't like the continuous with a non-personal subject like "campaign" since it emphasizes the sense of an action.Read More...

Updated 8/15/226:56 PM

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3 replies

Can "include" be exhaustive?

Andrew Van Wagner 8/14/222:09 PM

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I asked my question incorrectly before; instead I meant to ask whether one can say "X includes A and B and C" if A and B and C are likely to be all that X includes.Read More...

f6pafd 8/15/225:40 PM

Thank you for your approval, Moderator. Being a new member, hope I can be helpful.Read More...

Updated 8/15/225:40 PM

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2 replies

Stylization of the bold?

Andrew Van Wagner 8/14/227:07 AM

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See here: In terms of The Squad , I don’t hear as much about them now that they’ve been around for a little bit. The NYT seems to do it like this: "the squad" And Wikipedia (see the above link) seems to go back and forth between the Squad [no quotation marks] and The Squad [no quotation marks]Read More...

Andrew Van Wagner 8/14/2212:05 PM

Thanks! I appreciate this help!Read More...

Updated 8/14/2212:05 PM

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3 replies

What does "include" mean?

Andrew Van Wagner 8/14/2211:51 AM

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If X includes A and B and C, then is there any implication that that's an exhaustive list of what X includes?Read More...

Andrew Van Wagner 8/14/2212:03 PM

I should clarify; my fear here is that X does in fact only include A and B and C...but that's OK, since "include" can mean that it's exhaustive, right?Read More...

Updated 8/14/2212:03 PM

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3 replies

Is there any difference between them?

kuen 8/13/2212:57 PM

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Hi, Do have a run-in with the law and break the law mean the same thing? If so, do they mean the same in these sentences below? If not, what's the difference between them? 1.He had repeated run-ins with the law for theft. 2.He repeatedly broke the law against theft. Thank you very much.Read More...

David, Moderator 8/14/229:10 AM

I mean things like getting pulled over by the police, being fined, being put in jail, being executed, being put on a watch list, being investigated, etc., etc., etc. Sentence (1) works, but (2) is rather awkward. It would be more natural to say something like "He repeatedly broke the law by stealing."Read More...

Updated 8/14/229:10 AM

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2 replies

like and as

Ahmed.A.A 8/13/224:27 PM

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Hi, ''I have never seen a skilful footballer..........Messi.'' a- like b- as c- a and b I think ''like'' is correct, but what about ''as''? Thanks.Read More...

Ahmed.A.A 8/14/2212:54 AM

Thanks a lot DavidRead More...

Updated 8/14/2212:54 AM

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2 replies

Is the bold OK?

Andrew Van Wagner 8/13/227:18 AM

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The bold seems like it might be awkward or unclear: S how the elected official why they were wrong to vote for a bill—sometimes they already know that they messed up—and give them an “exit strategy” that allows them to kill or neuter the bill without having to publicly admit that they messed up .Read More...

Andrew Van Wagner 8/13/2211:39 PM

Thanks!Read More...

Updated 8/13/2211:39 PM

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1 reply

Hypothetical sentence

David Toklikishvili 8/13/227:49 AM

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"What would you want to find out about a group of learners that you had to teach so that you could plan your lessons?" This is a sentence from a pre-course task for students of CELTA course. It is clear that the sentence is hypothetical, but is it possible to use 'would have to teach' as an alternative to 'had to teach'? What if 'had to teach' is interpreted as a real past tense? Then the sentence becomes partly hypothetical. ThanksRead More...

David, Moderator 8/13/2211:08 AM

Hi, DT—It wouldn't make sense to interpret the sentence that way; so, although it is possible to interpret it thus, it is unlikely that anybody ever would.Read More...

Updated 8/13/2211:08 AM

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2 replies

OK to use bold to refer way backwards?

Andrew Van Wagner 8/11/2211:35 PM

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The bold word refers way backwards to something that comes before the preceding ("And you can do the same...") paragraph; is that OK? It’s an important first step to make sure that you know who your elected officials are at all levels. Just go to that neat website that you mentioned —that site will tell you who your state legislators and federal legislators are. The more local an elected official is, the easier it is to get their attention—contrary to popular belief, officials actually enjoy...Read More...

Andrew Van Wagner 8/13/226:14 AM

Thanks so much! I greatly appreciate the help on this front!Read More...

Updated 8/13/226:14 AM

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2 replies

Is the tense in bold advisable?

Andrew Van Wagner 8/11/2210:44 PM

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I use the bolded tense (not sure the term for it...it's sort of like a substitute for the PRESENT TENSE but I'm not sure its semantical implication or semantical valence) a couple times in my upcoming piece about lobbying: And grassroots organizing is down to a science in many areas—many grassroots campaigns will know everything there is to know about voters and will deploy a scary amount of data in order to pander to voters in any which way. See here another example: But these things...Read More...

Andrew Van Wagner 8/13/226:12 AM

Great! Thanks!Read More...

Updated 8/13/226:12 AM

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2 replies

What’s the meaning of ‘a harder hand’ in the context?

Wateriswhat 8/12/227:12 AM

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I don’t understand the meaning of ‘a harder hand’ in the following: “A person who overcame not just the external obstacles to success but mastered themselves and their emotions along the way That's much more impressive. The person who has been dealt a harder hand, understood it, but still triumphed? That's greatness.” Could you please explain the meaning?Read More...

Wateriswhat 8/12/229:43 PM

Hello, David. Thank you so much for welcoming me kindly. I appreciate the valuable comment you made about how to ask a question. I have seen the paragraph from a book which is about philosophy. Your explanation has made great sense to me, so I understand clearly. I appreciate your help.Read More...

Updated 8/12/229:43 PM

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2 replies

Confusion about using past continuous and simple tenses

Mahmoud Jamea 8/12/221:09 PM

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Dear Sir, please have a look on both the attached photos and tell if the two sentences are grammatically accurate or not. Also if I said “ from 9 to 11 yesterday, I watched a movie or I was watching a movie “ which tense should be used here the simple or the continuous and why? the two attached photos are from different resources. thanks alot.Read More...

Gustavo, Co-Moderator 8/12/226:46 PM

Hi, Mahmoud and Ahmed, The progressive also emphasizes the ongoing nature of the action and may indicate that the action was not completed: - I was watching a movie from 9 to 11 yesterday. (Perhaps the movie lasted longer than 2 hours.) - Tom was washing the car from 4 to 6. (Perhaps he did not finish washing it and went on to do something else after 6.) Instead, the simple form makes clear that the action was completed: - I watched a movie from 9 to 11 yesterday. (The speaker saw the entire...Read More...

Updated 8/12/226:46 PM

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6 replies

Present perfect with since

Ahmed towab 8/9/228:09 AM

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In ( Cambridge Grammar today) The writer used the present perfect after since with the verb (moved ) though it was not repeated,it happened once. 1- They haven't received any junk mail since they moved house. 2- They haven't received any junk mail since they have moved house. Is it ok to use a non repeated verb in the present perfect after since? Thanks in advanceRead More...

ahmed_btm 8/12/2211:19 AM

Hi, Ahmed Towab, From 'A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language', page 1018: " The present perfective may also be used in the pattern It + Be + time expression, when there is no explicit indication of point in time, such as last : - It has been a long time since I've seen Gerlad (cf: I haven't seen Gerlad for a long time). The present perfective is similarly used occasionally for other since clauses that refer to a point of time, eg: I've been lonely since you've left." In your...Read More...

Updated 8/12/2211:19 AM

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2 replies

Should I place a comma after 'but' here?

Cameron Boyle 8/11/221:23 PM

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Hi all, I was wondering if you could help. Should I place a comma after 'but' in the following sentence: "But in recent years, the language of migration has been subject to as much scrutiny as the issue itself." On balance I feel as though I should, but I'm not sure of the rules here. Thanks, CameronRead More...

Cameron Boyle 8/12/223:04 AM

Okay, excellent - thanks very much David.Read More...

Updated 8/12/223:04 AM

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7 replies

'as simple as being acceptable'

deepcosmos 8/6/2210:38 AM

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"Many packaged foods, particularly the more perishable ones, come with an expiration date. The expiration date represents the food scientist’s best guess on how long a food will last before it spoils. A food scientist calculates the expiration date by first determining the product’s shelf life (how long it will last under typical storage). The expiration date is usually set before the end of shelf life, but it is not as simple as being acceptable to eat the day before the expiration date and...Read More...

deepcosmos 8/11/2211:06 PM

Hi, David, deeply thanks for your explanation.Read More...

Updated 8/11/2211:06 PM

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8 replies

Should the bold be capitalized?

Andrew Van Wagner 8/11/2210:20 AM

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The 1976 thriller contains the famous phrase “ Follow the money” .Read More...

Andrew Van Wagner 8/11/2210:43 PM

So am I intending it to be thought of as a separate sentence? I'm not sure! What would you do in this instance?Read More...

Updated 8/11/2210:43 PM

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2 replies

Is this sentence OK?

Andrew Van Wagner 8/11/228:26 AM

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It's got a parallelism (I think you call it) where a list of things (with commas to separate them) attach back to "the people"; that's obviously normal, but there's the ", but" before the subject that the list's items attach to, so I wonder if that's too "busy" or if that's kosher. I think that the New Yorker will have sentences with all manner of commas sprinkled throughout the sentence and all manner of commas doing all sorts of things throughout the sentence, so this is probably nothing...Read More...

Andrew Van Wagner 8/11/2210:42 PM

Thanks so much!Read More...

Updated 8/11/2210:42 PM

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2 replies

Is it bad to have a full sentence inside dashes?

Andrew Van Wagner 8/11/228:17 AM

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Consider the part in bold: Show the elected official why they’re correct on an issue— they don’t necessarily know why they’re correct on an issue —and lay out a path to victory on the legislative front. You might argue that this is bad because it looks like the sentence might terminate after the word "issue" as follows: Show the elected official why they’re correct on an issue— they don’t necessarily know why they’re correct on an issue . But then when you get to the word "issue" your eyes...Read More...

Andrew Van Wagner 8/11/2210:40 PM

I have a freakish OCD need to "keep things moving" through gluing sentences together; it's funny because in personal correspondence (or in this sentence that I'm typing right now) I will use semicolons to achieve this, but in my writing I substitute em-dashes. I like to move things forward; semicolons arguably don't achieve that as well as em-dashes. My effort to "glue" things causes me to look for "logical gravity" that will pull different sentences together; if sentences X and Y and Z...Read More...

Updated 8/11/2210:40 PM

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2 replies

Can I say "will" SINGULAR here?

Andrew Van Wagner 8/11/228:14 AM

0 likes · 30 views

I don’t understand how you can have a system where you pay people money and then those people bend politicians’ will in your favor.Read More...

Andrew Van Wagner 8/11/2210:36 PM

Thanks! I appreciate the help on this front!Read More...

Updated 8/11/2210:36 PM

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2 replies

What does "as you should" mean?

Toowoomba 8/9/228:08 AM

0 likes · 2,134 views

Dear Grammar Exchange members, I was wondering if you could tell me about a phrase "as you should" used in TikTok. I've seen this phrase in some posts on TikTok. This phrase is often used as a cold response when a person did a good thing for her/his lover. For example, ... A man: "You're so beautiful. I love your smile." His girlfriend: " As you should , period." After he heard the phrase, he looks so sad. I can understand that the phrase has a negative connotation, and his girlfriend wants...Read More...

Toowoomba 8/11/227:23 PM

Thank you for your valuable reply, David. I really appreciate your comment.Read More...

Updated 8/11/227:23 PM

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3 replies

what dose "here" mean ?

nagy 8/11/223:42 PM

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I read one sentence. A: I'm looking into replacing artificial turf on our playing field with natural grass." B: "We have patches growing out here in our nursery." In this dialog, where is here? And what does "here" qualify?Read More...

Gustavo, Co-Moderator 8/11/225:36 PM

Thank you, Ahmed, but you didn't need to delete your answer.Read More...

Updated 8/11/225:36 PM

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1 reply

To be / being

Former Member 8/11/229:34 AM

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Which sentence is correct and why? 1) Are you happy being a teacher? 2) Are you happy to be a teacher?Read More...

Gustavo, Co-Moderator 8/11/225:35 PM

Hi, Sundaran, Adjectives like "happy" are usually complementized by infinitives: I'm happy to be a translator. In (2), the person is a teacher. In (1), the V-ing indicates that teaching might be temporary. It is similar to saying: 1a) Are you happy teaching? (= Are you happy when you teach?) For example, I'm happy to be a translator, and now I'm happy being a teacher.Read More...

Updated 8/11/225:35 PM

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1 reply

Questions in simple present

Sree 8/11/227:26 AM

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what does it mean Do you go to school today? - do you have a plan to go to school today or do you regularly go to school? can we say Do you go to school today? - is it correct Do you have to go to school? Yes, I have to go to school. But I don't go because I am not well - is this correctRead More...

ahmed_btm 8/11/224:57 PM

Hi, Sree, This sounds weird and needs more context. If someone is questioning another, they might say, 'Do you have / go to school on Mondays ?' The usage of ' today ' makes the question sound unnatural. Of course, you can use the present progressive with 'today' here to ask about the addressee's plans. Where is this from? It sounds very non-native and unnatural. 'I am not well' is a temporary case. It doesn't require the usage of the present simple -unless it is a permanent case. I won't...Read More...

Updated 8/11/224:57 PM

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2 replies

Potential ambiguity?

Andrew Van Wagner 8/11/228:45 AM

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See here (you might think that the bold part attaches to "lobbyist": See below my interview with an anonymous progressive lobbyist that I edited for flow and organized by topic .Read More...

Andrew Van Wagner 8/11/2211:21 AM

Thanks so much! I'll definitely fix that! )Read More...

Updated 8/11/2211:21 AM

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3 replies

The meaning of "yet"

David Toklikishvili 8/9/2212:48 AM

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"the jury's finding amounted to the clearest verdict yet rendered upon the scandal" This sentence is an example of the usage of the word RENDER from The Online Oxford Dictionary of English. But I don't understand the meaning of 'yet' in this context, which would be clear if there were "yet to be rendered" instead of 'yet rendered'.Read More...

David Toklikishvili 8/11/2210:35 AM

Ahmad, thank you very much for the elucidation. This site is invaluable to me.Read More...

Updated 8/11/2210:35 AM

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